What is your Health Score?

What is Bergamot?

Author: Emily Seddon
Date Posted:23 September 2016

Bergamot: Citrus fruits for Cholesterol.

Bergamot is a citrus fruit grown almost exclusively on the south-eastern coast of Italy. It’s a natural hybrid of Sweet Limetta and Bitter Orange and has been used for centuries as a medicine, in perfumes and for the characteristic citrus flavour of Earl Grey tea.

Bergamot extract contains a high level of flavonoids and flavonoid glycosides which have been shown to maintain healthy cholesterol and lipid levels in healthy individuals. Studies have demonstrated that it can help withmaintaining normal levels of total and LDL (bad) cholesterol and raising HDL (good) cholesterol in healthy individuals.*

The studies indicate that an intake of 500-1500mg of BE per day for at least a month produces a positive effect on the HDL LDL ratio..*

What does the science say?

Studies show Bergamot's action on maintaining normal cholesterol levels in healthy individuals may be due to interference with HMG-CoA reductase – a key enzyme in the pathway that produces cholesterol.*

Current Guidelines:
The current Australian guidelines for cholesterol levels are:

Total cholesterol - Less than 4.0 mmol/L.

HDL - Greater than 1.0 mmol/L.

LDL - Less than 2.0 mmol/L.

Triglycerides - Less than 2.0 mmol/L.

Cholesterol's not all bad, it's used for:

Hormone production - Cholesterol can be used as a precursor by testis, ovaries or the adrenal gland to make steroid hormones, including sex hormones such as testosterone, oestrogen and progesterone.

Vitamin D production - Cholesterol is also a precursor to vitamin D.

The digestion of fats - It helps the liver to produce bile acids, which are essential to the digestion of fats.

Cell structure and function - A main component of cell membranes and structures is cholesterol, a kind of building block for bodily tissues. Cholesterol is there to basically provide a protective barrier. When the amount of cholesterol increases or decreases, the cells are affected. This change can affect our ability to metabolize and produce energy.

Emily (BHSc Naturopathy) is a qualified naturopath with a love of science. Growing up with a hippy mum and dad, Emily grew used to thinking outside the box for her own health. She has since completed a degree in Health Science, majoring in Naturopathy, combining that passion for healthy living with scientific and traditional evidence to help others to live happy and healthy lives.

She loves using herbal and nutritional medicine to treat ailments and lives by the philosophy of “there is no such thing as too much tea."